My doctor gave me a Kenalog shot for allergies. Is this a common remedy? Is there something better?

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Kenalog, an injectable corticosteroid, is a medication that reduces inflammation in the body, including inflammation related to allergies. Whenever possible, it is better to use corticosteroid medications that only go where they are needed. Specifically, corticosteroids can be sprayed into the nose for nasal symptoms, or inhaled into the lungs for allergy-related asthma, rather than injected or taken in pill form. This is preferable, because much of your body is not affected by allergies, and there is usually no reason to give a whole-body medicine. In addition, the doses involved with injected or oral corticosteroids are much higher than the doses in sprays, and therefore the side effects are greater. See my earlier answer about the side effects of corticosteroid medications for more information on this subject.

Doctors will give someone a corticosteroid shot or pills to take by mouth for allergies when that person comes in with disabling symptoms (interfering with sleep or work performance) that have been going on for weeks. In this setting, injections or pills are sometimes the only treatment strong enough to work.

It is important to start medications for allergies as soon as symptoms appear, and if you know what time of year your symptoms are typically the worst, then medication can be started a week or two before. If you don't know exactly when to expect your symptoms, it is best to have prescriptions on hand so that you can start the medicines quickly, when you need them. This approach works far better than waiting until the symptoms become severe and require a much stronger treatment.

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